


Making Deals

by MargotCelvin



Series: Extra Nightmares [6]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Depression, Fluff, I don't know what to tag this one y'all, M/M, Stan's dad is the worst, but it's pretty light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-10 23:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20536745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MargotCelvin/pseuds/MargotCelvin
Summary: Stan isn’t having a good day and his boyfriend comes to the rescue. He also makes a deal with his father.





	Making Deals

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if this one's not as good. I started it and then was determined to finish it so it might be a little rushed.

**From Love Bird: I’m not going to be at school today so you don’t have to stop by or anything.**

**To Love Bird: Why not? **

**From Love Bird: Just not feeling up to it.**

Bill didn’t really know how to respond. He was already sitting in his truck waiting for it to warm up when he got the first text from Stan. Bill sat and thought about what he should do. He was pretty sure Stan would be upset if Bill skipped school to stay with him, even though that was what he wanted to do more than anything.

**To Love Bird: Do you want me to come over after school?**

**From Love Bird: You don’t have to. **

**To Love Bird: That didn’t answer my question.**

**From Love Bird: I can’t do much to stop you since you have a key to this place. **

**To Love Bird: Okay. I’ll see you after school. Let me know if you need anything. Love you. **

**From Love Bird: Love you too. **

Bill parked his truck and walked into school. He knew the other Losers were going to ask where Stan was. He needed to come up with a reason for Stan’s absence, he couldn’t exactly tell them that his depression was bad that day, especially since they didn’t really know. He was pretty sure Bev knew, but just from figuring it out, not because Stan told her.

Bill went up to his locker and noticed the other four waiting for him. He waved slightly at them as he opened his locker to get his stuff out.

“Where’s Stan?” Mike asked.

“He doesn’t feel good today, so he stayed home,” Bill answered as he put his coat in his locker.

“That seems odd,” Eddie commented. Bev and Bill made eye contact, she looked concerned. Bill matched her concern. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to stay at school for the whole day, not with this pit growing in his stomach.

Bill made it to lunch before he told the nurse that he was really sick and needed to go home. She didn’t care and just signed the paper. Adults in this town never really did give a shit about anything or anyone but themselves. That’s why he hated Derry. That’s why he was ready to graduate and get the hell out of town.

~~~~~~~~~~

Stan woke up to the smell of coffee and soft music playing. He opened his eyes and blinked to get his eyes to adjust to the light seeping into his now partially opened curtains. Stan sat up and looked around, looking for any kind of evidence as to what was going on. He grabbed the cup of coffee which was still warm.

“Who the fuck is in my house?” Stan asked himself quietly.

“Your boyfriend,” Bill answered as he walked back into the room. He had food with him, although it wasn’t much. He knew Stan wouldn’t eat much.

“When did you get here?”

“Maybe an hour ago. I was just going to wait until you woke up but then I decided that you might like some coffee. And I figured I could make you look at some food and pretend like you’re going to eat it.” Bill sat the food, which was just a bowl of ramen noodles, on Stan’s bedside table. “I just- I couldn’t stay at school knowing you weren’t okay.” Stan nodded before taking a sip of the coffee.

“You remember how I drink my coffee?” Bill climbed over Stan’s legs so he could sit next to him.

“Yeah, two teaspoons of sugar then the rest is half coffee and half almond milk. Unless you’re really sick or we were drinking the night before, then it’s just black coffee.”

“You remember all that?”

“Yeah. I care about you, of course I remember.” Stan smirked slightly as he took another sip. “So, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just not a good day.”

“Are your meds not working?”

“They are. I still just have bad days sometimes.”

“They just aren’t as frequent?” Stan nodded. “Did you and your dad get into another fight?” Stan nodded again, he looked a lot sadder that time. “About what?”

It took Stan a moment to answer, even though it was a simple answer. Stan sat his mug on his bedside table and curled in on himself slightly before he answered with a simple, “You.”

“Me?” Stan nodded. Bill took one of Stan’s hand in his and silently asked Stan to explain. He wasn’t going to force him to say anything, but he really wanted Stan to tell him what happened.

“Dad was saying how terrible you are for me, how you’re a terrible influence, and how we’ll never last so I should stop wasting my time. I asked what it was going to take for him to finally leave us alone. He said there was nothing we could do to change his mind. That you were still the same person from a couple years ago and that you would never change. That I should just face the facts and get over it.” Stan had done a really good job at not breaking down as he told Bill what his father had told him yesterday.

“Do you believe him?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to, but what if he’s right? What if we really are just wasting time? What if we’re postponing the inevitable?” _Postponing the inevitable._ Bill hated that phrase. He hated that every time he heard it, was when Stan was really depressed. But most of all, he hated that it was his dad that always seemed to make Stan ask that question.

Bill had never hated Mr. Uris more than he did in that moment. How dare he make assumptions on how their relationship was going to go. How dare he tell Stan that he was wasting his time.

“Pack some clothes for the weekend.” Bill said is a soft voice, despite the fact that his blood was boiling. “Like warm clothes.”

“Why?”

“We’re gonna go somewhere.”

“Where?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“I don’t like surprises and you know this.”

“You’ll like this one.” Stan rolled his eyes . “Why don’t you believe me?”

“I just don’t trust you.”

“Why not?”

“You did break into my house.”

“Is it really breaking in if I have a key and told you I would be over here at some point?”

“I guess not.” Bill volunteered to pack for Stan so that he could eat the food Bill made. Bill couldn’t make anything fancy but he could make Ramen noodles and have them somehow taste really good. Stan wasn’t going to question it. He thought it would probably come in handy in college, not that Stan would be able to reap the benefits of it.

Stan hated that he and Bill wouldn’t be going to college together. He would have Eddie which would be really nice, but Eddie is not his boyfriend. He knew it was kinda stupid and felt almost selfish but it didn’t matter to Stan. To him, he had been waiting for almost a decade to be with Bill and he didn’t want to lose any more time than he already had. That’s why he would never admit it but he was glad Bill came over.

“Alright, you’re all packed. I need to make a phone call and then we can head out,” Bill spoke very quickly. Stan got dressed while Bill was on the phone. He didn’t hear any of Bill’s call but he did hear Bill say ‘love you’ and it concerned Stan for about half a second before he realized the Bill was probably calling his parents or Georgie or one of their friends. Stan didn’t have anything to worry about, he knew that, despite what his brain wanted to tell him sometimes.

“Why didn’t you pack anything?” Stan asked when they got on the highway instead of going to Bill’s house.

“I have clothes where we’re going.” Stan thought about questioning where the hell they were going but that seemed like too much work and the fact that Stan kind of enjoyed the idea of a surprise trip the more he thought about it. It was only because it was Bill. The drive was surprisingly relaxing, despite the fact that Bill’s truck rattles. He needed a new one but the boy was cheap so they were stuck with this piece of shit truck until it died.

It took them about two hours to get to the cabin Bill was taking them to. He got the spare key out of the mailbox from where it was taped to the side. Once the door was opened Stan was ushered inside. He was looking around as Bill took Stan’s bag to the room they would be staying in.

Stan stood on the porch and looked out at the mountains that surrounded them. The cabin was on the side of a small cluster of mountains that most people used to ski. This one was just for residential cabins. Stan thought it was beautiful up here. He was glad Bill had brought him out here.

Bill came up behind him and wrapped his arm around Stan and placed a small kiss on the side of his head. Bill pretended he was looking out at the view, he was mostly just watching Stan though. Stan noticed, but he kinda liked it. This was some of the only attention he liked for long periods of time.

“So, who’s place did we break into?” Stan asked.

“We didn’t break in. This is my grandparent’s cabin. They come up here a couple of times a year to escape. I made sure they weren’t coming up this weekend.” 

“Sure, it is.”

“It is. You legit passed a picture on me on the mantle.” Stan had seen the picture, it was Bill and Georgie from a couple of years ago, they were both in their ski gear and were smiling ridiculously hard.

“Whatever you say.” Bill chuckled slightly and nestled into Stan more. “How long are we staying up here?”

“I was thinking we could spend the weekend up here. I just kinda thought you needed a bit of a break from your dad.” Stan was honestly touched by the thought; Bill had watched as Stan’s relationship with his father had gotten worse over the year.

“I love you.” Bill didn’t need to answer for Stan to know he felt the same. Just the fact that he was doing this at all showed Stan just how much Bill loved him. They stayed on the porch for a little bit longer until Stan got cold.

The rest of the night was pretty peaceful for them. Bill attempted to make food and didn’t ruin it this time. Then they called it an early night. Well, kind of. Anyone that knew the two of them could make accurate assumptions about what they were doing.

Bill let Stan choose their activities for the next day. Stan chose watching movies on the couch and cuddling in a place that they didn’t have to worry about being walked in on. Georgie was really good at interrupting moments right before they actually happened. And they didn’t really do anything like this at Stan’s because of his father.

They had been watching some cheesy 80s horror movie when Stan’s phone started ringing from its spot on the coffee table. Stan looked down at his phone and saw who was calling, although he already had an idea as to who it was, their friends all knew where they were. Stan leaned down and grabbed the phone, staring at it for a moment before answering. Bill had also noticed who called and wrapped his arms around Stan’s waist.

“Hey Dad.”

“Where are you? I thought you would be home by now from whatever galivanting you were doing with that boy.” His father sounded angry.

“Bill and I came up to his grandparents’ cabin for the weekend.”

“Without telling us?”

“It was a spur of the moment decision. I just didn’t think about it.”

“That boy is the one that’s teaching you to hide everything from us.” Stan very obviously tensed at his father’s accusations. Bill noticed this.

“Bill’s not teaching me anything bad. I legitimately just forgot to text you guys that I was going out.”

“That boy is trouble and is taking you down with him.” Stan had finally had enough.

“Dad, we either make a deal for you to leave my relationship with Bill alone or I am not coming back. I’m pretty sure Sharon isn’t going to care if I start living with them.”

“She wouldn’t,” Bill whispered into Stan’s shoulder, it was enough for Stan to hear but not enough for his father to hear.

“It’s not going to be any different from now when you two are at the same college.”

“We aren’t going to the same college, Bill didn’t get into the writing program at Morrison, he’ll still be in New York but like half an hour or so away.” Stan was pretty sure he heard his parents talking on the other end, he was starting to care less and less about actually making a deal with his father, but there was something telling him he couldn’t burn this bridge quite yet.

“Your mother posed that if you two can make it through the year without anything bad happening, that I should leave it alone.”

“I can do that.”

“Fine. I’ll see you when you get home.” His father hung up without actually saying goodbye or anything else to really end the conversation. Stan dropped his phone off the couch and leaned back into Bill. Bill tightened his grip around Stan as his boyfriend tried not to cry about fighting with his father, again.

“Do we really have to leave tomorrow?” Stan asked. He really didn’t want to go home; he just had a feeling that it was going to end in another fight and him hiding at Bill’s again.

“I mean technically no if we want to skip school.”

“I’m considering it.”

“You could just stay at my place for a bit.”

“I don’t know if that would make things better or worse.”

“I just want to make things better.”

“I know.” Stan shifted his position so he was leaning into Bill’s shoulder but only his legs were on Bill’s lap. His feet dangled off the edge of the couch. “Do you think we’ll really be okay going to different schools?’ He asked without looking up at Bill.

“Absolutely. We have phones and skype. Plus, I can come over on the weekends as long as your roommate is okay with it.”

“You know my roommate might be Eddie, right?” Stan did look up at Bill that time.

“Oh, then he’s definitely not going to care. He’ll probably be happy to see me too.”

“Not as happy as me.”

“Well of course he won’t be as happy as you. He’s not in a relationship with me.”

“He better not be.”

“He’s not. I’m a one Stan kind of man.” Stan pushed himself off of Bill’s chest and looked at him.

“Get out.” He didn’t mean that.

~~~~~~~~~~

Stan was hiding in his room about a month later. His father was being insufferable again. Not that that was new. The only part that sucked was that Bill had to be home for most of the day to watch Georgie so he couldn’t come over until later.

He did, however, get a call from Bill, which he wanted to pretend was strange. It was actually pretty normal. Bill was one of those people who liked to actually talk on the phone.

“Hey,” Stan tried to make it sound like he was happy to hear from Bill.

“Hey, are you busy?”

“No. Why?”

“You want to get dinner with me?” It wasn’t a strange request but something sounded strange about Bill.

“Sure. Is something up? You just seem kind of off.”

“I just have something I want to tell you.”

“And you can’t tell me now?”

“I want to do it in person.”

“Then sure. You gonna pick me up?”

“I’m already on my way. See you in a minute.” They both hung up and Stan sighed. Going out meant going past his father which would probably cause a fight. Oh well.

Stan made it out to Bill’s truck with only a heated discussion instead of a full-blown argument. Progress.

They didn’t go to the diner as normal, instead they went to one of the few actually good restaurants in town.

“So, what did you want to tell me?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“This isn’t you breaking up with me, right?”

“What? No.”

“Then stop phrasing things like that and tell me what is going on.”

“I got a letter from Morrison today.”

“What did it say?”

“It started with congratulations and ended with saying that I need to confirm my spot in the program by the end of next week.”

“You got into the writing program?” Stan’s smile ended up taking up most of his face. It was the smile that he didn’t pull out that often.

“Yeah.”

“Oh fuck.” Stan’s smile quickly dropped as he remembered something important.

“What?”

“The deal with my dad. He only made that because we were supposed to be going to different schools. We can’t tell him.”

“Stan, we have to.”

“We can’t. I need him to leave us alone and this deal is our best bet.”

“Why are you so concerned about what your dad thinks about us?”

“I just want to be able to stay in that house without feeling like I’m being attacked all the time. And if he can get over this then maybe he can get over some other things about me and maybe we can all live peacefully in that house.”

“You could always stay with me.”

“But something is telling me that I need to keep at least a civil relationship with him. I don’t know what it is but it feels important.” Stan would have never guessed the real reason he had to keep some kind of okay relationship with his father. He could never guess that it was because he was going to need to find a home for an artist with a worse parental relationship than he had. And said artist’s boyfriend, who he was already friends with.

“Okay. We’ll need to tell my mom to keep it a secret too.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.” There wasn’t. Bill didn’t know how he was going to convince his mother to keep a secret from her best friend but they would have to do something.

They would be able to keep up the ruse for the most part.

At least long enough to figure out a different plan that didn’t involve coming back to Derry. They would be happier then so it was fine.


End file.
